12 Years
by horizontal stripes43
Summary: The Flock gets captured, and find out that Fang is a traitor. What will Max have to go through to save him? Minor FAX, except for the end. Flames and constructive criticism welcomed. UPDATED. NOW COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER 1**

"Useless... kill... no, not her... yes... Subject Two... no use... maybe... soon." I could only hear part of the whitecoats conversation, but I heard enough. And I could make a pretty good guess at who 'Subject Two' is.

"Fang, come over here." Luckily, the whitecoats put us in a cell that we could move around in.

"They're going to try to kill you." I couldn't find any other way to say it.

"I know." Well, that was a shock. Fang looked at me impassively.

"You know? You knew all along that you were going to die?" I couldn't believe that he didn't tell me! I could kill him, but someone is already going to do that, no thanks to him!

"Yeah. Jeb told me before he "left". I know exactly what will happen."

"What _will_ happen?"

Fang looked away. "You don't want to know." He said it so quietly, brokenly even, but I heard him like he was shouting. It was so clear, and I wish it were a dream. But it wasn't. It never is.

"Fang..." Angel looked at him with tears in her eyes. "I'm so sorry!" She came over and hugged him. He slowly picked her up.

"Angel, it'll be okay." Fang held her close.

Angel started crying more. "You don't believe that!" She hollered.

"What's wrong?" The Gasman and Iggy came over to our little group.

"Nothing." Fang said curtly.

Angel looked him in the eyes. "That's horrible," she whispered, and I knew she saw how Fang was going to die.

I heard Nudge. I spun around. The Director walked in with Omega by her side.

"Hello, Maximum." She held up her hand as I opened my mouth. "Don't say anything, just listen. Fang is coming with me. You are staying here with your precious Flock. Once we get everything we need from Fang, we'll send him back to you. That's option one. Option two is that I take Fang, and you come too, just to make sure we don't hurt him. Which one is will it be?" She smirked at me.

I glanced at Fang. His pale face was white, and he shook his head 'no' at me. That settled it. I tapped the back of Iggy's hand twice, signaling he was in charge. I heard Fang sigh.

I stepped forward. "I'm coming with you."

"I thought you might say that. Omega, grab Fang. I'll take Max." He long nails dug into my arm, causing blood to slowly trickle out as we walked down the hall, with Omega and Fang in front of us. Fang didn't even try to escape. It's like he knew there was nowhere to go.

Omega took Fang into a room. The Director and I kept walking.

"Hey! You said..."

"I know what I said. We are watching from a different room. An observation room, you could call it." She opened the door for me. It was now or never.

I took a deep breath and walked in. The door slammed shut behind me. I realized I was alone.

The room wasn't anything special; gray walls, with a big window overlooking an old operation room.

I noticed with a start, that Fang was in the operation room with Omega. I could clearly hear the conversation.

"Easy process- You lie down, I give you truth serum, we learn all of your deepest secrets, and then we perform a very painful operation to remove your memories and experiment with them." Omega was saying, "You knew it was coming, and you know there's no avoiding it, so just lie down."

"No." Fang said coolly. "Make me."

I cringed. That was the wrong thing to say.

Omega frowned and charged Fang, who didn't even try to get out of the way. I watched as Omega threw him on the gurney, and strapped him down.

Omega pulled out a syringe and thrust it into Fang's arm. Fang slowly stopped struggling. His eyes went unfocused, and he seemed to be in a hazy state of mind.

"What is your real name?" Omega asked, bringing out a clipboard.

_This is stupid. What, do they think Fang has another name besides Fang?_

"Alpha." Fang answered immediately.

(A/N: Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet, Omega is the last. Just a little fact for ya'll)

"Have you been collecting information about the Flock?"

"Yes."

"Did you process it and send it to Jeb?"

"No."

"Why not?" Omega sounded annoyed. _I guess they added more emotions to him._

"I won't betray them."

Omega laughed. "A little too late for that, brother,"_ Brother? _He sighed, "do you love them? Is that why you won't betray them?"

Fang seemed confused. "No... that wasn't part of the assignment."

"But does part of you like them, at least?"

"I... I trust them."

"I probably would too. Don't worry, we'll have you fixed like me soon. Did you plant the bomb?"

_What bomb? Oh, no, please don't say my Flock is going to die, please.._

"No."

"What? Why not?"

"I couldn't. They shouldn't die. It's not right."

"What do you know about right? You work for us, you know! So just shut up!"

The Director opened up the door. "Omega, I think that is enough. Let's begin changing him into you. His body is fine, we just need to erase all of his memories of the Flock. We can't have him betraying us."

I couldn't watch anymore. I ran to the door, and found it locked. _No, no! This can't be happening! No, Fang will be.._

The Voice interrupted my thoughts. _Max, Fang does not deserve to be saved! He betrayed you!_

_But he didn't want to! He was injected with truth serum!_

_He's been a traitor ever since you met him. Why do you think Ari was able to kidnap Angel so easily? Why do you think the Erasers and Flyboys always found you? Fang! Fang told them! You can't trust him!_

_But, it's my right-hand man we're talking about. I'll give anything just to keep him alive!_

_Max, listen to me. Fang is not Fang. He is Alpha, and Omega's brother. Fang is the most powerful thing the scientists created. You can't just save him. He was made for a reason. To kill. He'll kill you, Max! Then, the entire world will suffer._

_No! Let me talk to Fang! I've known him forever, way longer than he has known Omega! Please! _Oh, God, I begging to the Voice. Life as we know it is gone.

_Fine. But I warned you._ The glass shattered into thousands of pieces. I jumped through it, not caring that I cut myself, and ran to Fang.

"Max? What... No, you shouldn't be here! Leave! Now!" Fang yelled at me.

"Too late!" I growled out at him. I reached over and unchained Fang from the bed. He stood up quickly, glaring at me.

"Max," He said in a low, dangerous tone, "Leave. I don't want to hurt you."

"Fang, listen! You didn't give us away! We'll forgive you, and start over!"

"I don't want forgiveness!" Fang shouted. You won't believe what he did next.

He punched me. Hard. I fell to the ground with tears streaming down my face.

"Fang? What.. why?" I was crying, and I was mad, but I couldn't bring myself to hit him back.

"He's not Fang. He's Alpha. If you know what's good for you, you'll leave." Omega growled at me.

"MAX!" I spun around. Iggy and the Flock were standing by a broken-down door.

"Let's go! Leave Fang behind!" Nudge shouted.

"I..." I couldn't think. I couldn't breath. I felt dizzy, so I let darkness overcome me.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

**Omg! I'm so FRICKIN sorry! I didn't mean for it to be clumped like that!! I thought I had fixed it, but it didn't work SO SORRY! Please forgive me! Also: _I want to give a HUGE thanks to my beta reader - ForeverIndebted. The most awesome beta reader I know. _**

I woke up with a feeling of dread. "Fang!" I whispered it, but Iggy heard me. His face turned sour.

"Fang's a bloody traitor! He was going to kill you, maybe all of us, even! I can't believe we ever trusted him..." Iggy looked away, but I saw the tears in his eyes. I had never seen Iggy act so emotional, so it was hard to comfort him.

"Iggy..." I began, mechanically scooting a bit closer to him so that I could whisper without the younger kids waking up. "He trusted us. He didn't want us to die. He didn't give information about us to Jeb, and he didn't ever try to kill us. He..." I stopped short, fighting back tears before I said, "Ig, I think he loved us." I wasn't sure if the newly-emotional Iggy noticed, but I hoped that he didn't.

"Bizarre love, then." Iggy was still bitter, obviously not hearing my change of voice. "I told him all of my secrets, Max! You have no idea how much I relied on him!"

It sounded like he was going to cry, so I scooted toward him, cautiously wrapping my arm around his shoulder for a brief second before he cringed away. "And you think that I didn't? Fang was my right-hand man! I didn't do anything drastic without consulting him! I loved him, Iggy, and now I find out that he wasn't even part of the Flock! It's..." I couldn't go on.

My body shook with sobs. Iggy came over again, hearing my quiet sobbing, and put his arms around my shoulders and held me, like Fang used to. Fang... Just thinking his name made me cry more.

_I warned you, Max. Fang was never to be trusted. I warned you before, butyou never listened. Don't you wish you had? _The Voice answered to my mourning. Great. A Voice to comfort me. What a wonderful, glorious day.

_Shut up! Fang meant the world to me, and now he's probably going to kill me! _I shrieked to my voice, tears streaming down my face as I unconsciously let them fall, letting myself feel what I may.

_There's something you need to know, Max_, The Voice continued, sounding like a robot as it gruesomely said_, Fang isn't going to make it._

_What do you mean? _I yelled, again, freezing on the outside to wait for the devastating news that I was about to hear, preparing myself for yet another blackout.

_The Director is going to try to change Fang into Alpha, but she won't succeed. Fang loves you too much and he won't part with his memories._

_ So what will happen to Fang? Will he come back to me? _I breathed, holding my breath and hoping for a miracle.

_No. The Director will classify him as useless, and, as we speak, Omega will kill him. Sorry, Maximum._I processed the information with fear. There had to be a way to stop this madness. "Iggy, how far away are we from the School?"

"A couple miles. Why?" Iggy felt my body shift uncomfortably, and realizing the method to my literal madness. "Oh, no, Max! We aren't going to save the traitor!"

"Yes we are." Angel came over to us. "When Fang held me, he was thinking about how he wasn't going to betray us. No matter what, he loved us, and he wouldn't give us up. We have to save him!"  
That's my Angel. Always trying tohe right thing. God, I love that kid.

Finally, Iggy sighed angrily. "I'll wake Nudge and Gazzy."

FANG'S POV

I won't give it up. I won't give up my memories. I won't. I can't, for Max's sake. I...  
Oh, this was stupid. The whitecoats could change me. They could make me forget, unless...  
It was crazy, but it just might work.

I was on a bed, waiting to be injected by the whitecoat standing over me. If I can manage retreating into myself, or dying, then I could still remember. I have no clue how to kill myself in the next ten seconds, so I'll go with door number one. Retreating into myself, just enough to be presumed dead and/or useless. Whatever.

I closed my eyes, and thought about all of the dark things in life. Death, pain, blood, murder, fire, suicide... And the thing is: it worked. I honestly don't know how I did it. I was there, yet I wasn't there. All I know is that the whitecoat started freaking out, and tons of voices could be heard.

"What happened?"

"I don't know, he just…"

"He's dead!"

"Fix him!"

I felt cold metal on my chest, and a electric shock went through me. I tried to ignore the pain, hoping that I could keep faking long enough for them to stop torturing me so that I could escape and get out of here.

"It didn't work!"

"Try again!"

The metal pressed down on me again, but I was ready. I withdrew myself more, and blocked out all pain and voices. Nothing happened. I felt myself drift off. I woke up in a dream state.

It was a wonderful place, with fields of flowers and beautiful streams and lakes. I saw darkness on the horizon, though. I couldn't help myself. I ran towards it, determined to find out what was ruining the perfect fantasy.

I could hear a voice, "Fang, wake up!" It sounded vaguely like Max, but I knew she loathed me, and would never come save me.

The obscurity loomed upon me now. I peered into it, and saw a horrible image. There was girl Angel's age, getting devoured by a wolf. She was screaming, and I went to fight for her.

"Shoo!" I shouted at the wolf, who growled then ran away. I kneeled by the girl. "I'll get help. It'll be okay, just listen to my voice."

Her mouth turned from a cry of horror to a grin of triumph. "Got you."

Tears of blood poured out of my eyes. I opened my mouth to scream, but all that came out was the girl's laughter. I fell back onto the ground, feeling lightheaded. I saw spots of white dance before my eyes, and all I could hear was the laughter, ringing in my ears as I finally gave up and slipped into unconsciousness...

MAX'S POV

We made it to the evil, malicious School in one point three minutes. A grumpy Iggy and a grinning Gazzy wasted no time blowing down the door, and we were in.

I stormed into the room where Fang was, with a little help from the Voice. It was stupid how, sometimes I hated it, and sometimes, I wished that it would never go away. I would rather live without it's annoying trivia, though.

_Turn right. Five doors down of the left. The activation code is 991mu6. Go straight down the hall and make a sharp left. Open the door on your right_, it commanded, lifting my confidence a bit more.

I saw Fang lying on a bed. Not moving. I froze, too scared to move. Him dead was all that ran through my exausted mind.

The whitecoats ripped opened his shirt and brought down the paddles. Fang's body went up, and came back down. Nothing happened. The whitecoats did it again, and my senses finally kicked in.

"Iggy grab Fang! The rest of you kill as many as you can!Go!"  
Simple instructions. That's my style.

We went into action. I was seriously mad. I know I took out at least nine freak whitecoats before Iggy shouted, "I got him! Let's go!"

We flew back to the cave we had harbored in, and Iggy laid Fang down with a blank expression, but behind his eyes was fear.

"Is he breathing? If not, then I know CPR. But that would be really weird to use on Fang, since he's like a brother to me. But If I have to, I will. So, is he alive?" Nudge rambled with concern.

"Yeah," Iggy said calmly. I let out a breath I didn't know I had been holding and crouched by him worriedly, lightly putting my hands on his shoulders, hoping that he was okay.

"Fang, wake up!" I tried to revise him by shaking him, slapping him, and even dumping water on him (which he'll be very mad at me for doing) but nothing worked.

Fang didn't show any signs of life until he mumbled, "Shoo," then, "I'll get help. It'll be okay, just listen to myvoice." We all just stared in expressions ranging from confusion to horror.

"What's happening? Angel?" The Gasman looked scared.

"I don't know! I'm scared, Max. There's a girl in Fang's mind, and she's hurting him. Make it stop, Max! Please!" Angel was crying in my arms, clutching at my shirt and wetting it. She hardly ever breaks down like this.

Fang's eyes shot open and blood began seeping out of them. His mouth opened in a silent scream, and I was terrified. There came the faint hum of a little girl's laughter in the cave.

"What's happening?" Nudge screamed. Fang's eyes snapped shut. The giggles became louder.

"Max! I'm scared!" Gasser and Angel were both in my arms now, Angel still in her defenseless state, and Gazzy looking up at me with worried, innocent eyes that made me even more afraid.

I couldn't completely lie to them, so I replied as calmly as possible, "So am I!" I couldn't help admitting it.

A strong wind picked up and blew around the cave and the laughter turned to words.

"I win!

You lose!Fang is dead!

And you're next!"

The last line was said in a low, forbidding voice. Nudge and Angel screamed as the wind began to create a person. A little girl, with no eyes, and she had wings.

Just like us.

**Again, I'm so sorry. I did not mean to do that.**


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**

For once, no one made a sound. The child looked down at Fang, (for her, though, looking is strictly impossible) then grabbed his hand. She whispered unknown words into his ear, then looked me straight in the eyes with her dark sockets.

"I'm sorry, Maximum. He can join me now, where he belongs. Fang's my brother, you know. And he wouldn't die unless you came along. So please just give me your soul. Don't make it painful, like Fang did."

The wind picked up again, and soon Fang was standing there.

"No! Don't take Max!" He yelled at the young girl. "I gave myself up for you! Isn't that enough?"

"You of all people should know, Fang, that it's never enough." She faced all of us.

"Like I said, Fang's my brother. You are all under the assumption that Fang is Omega's brother, and is real name is Alpha. That's not true. It's all a lie that the scientists made up so they could keep Fang. The real story is different. Much different. I'll start from the beginning.

"I'm Fang's older sister. I know I look like a young child, but that's only because I died as a little girl. I was created before all of you, with no name. So I named myself. I'm Death. I know, a weird name, but that was the only word I could process at the time. Death was the only thing the scientists ever talk about.

"Then, when I was three, Maximum Ride came along. I could tell from the moment I laid my eyes on her, that she would be independent and stubborn, the perfect qualities that make up a good leader.

"A few months later, I was cloned, and the DNA was injected a teenager's baby before it was born. That changed everything. The baby barely looked like its mother. Instead, it resembled me." _Now that I think about it, the two do look a lot alike. _

"The baby was deformed, though. It had no eyes. So the scientists removed mine to give to the baby, because they thought he would be so much better than me. Sadly, they were wrong. The child withdrew himself from everything. But that is another story.

"Anyway, the baby was put in with Maximum and me. I always called him my brother, even though, theoretically, he wasn't. The first time I held him, he bit me and drew blood, so I named him Fang.

"Two months later, another child was added to the group. A beautiful, blue-eyed, strawberry blond hair boy. I couldn't think of a perfect name for him. Fang and Maximum came so easily to me, but nothing seemed to fit. I wanted something to do with fire, because the boy was draw to it, like bees to flowers. After much thinking, I combined Ignite with Piggy, because he ate more than anyone else in the cage. So I got Iggy.

"We lived, not happily, but satisfied in the cage for three years. With companions, the tests weren't so painful. I had something to look forward to at the end of the day- family. _Love. _Then, Jeb Batchelder came along and ruined everything.

"He told me that my brother and I were useless. We had no purpose in live, but Jeb wasn't going to kill us both. Not right away, at least. Instead, he would kill me now, and give Fang another twelve years on two conditions. One- that they let Fang be subjected to anything and everything they do, and two- I was the one that had to kill him when his twelve years were up. I had no choice but to agree. The only other option was that Fang died then, and I had to go through twelve horrible years of knowing it was my fault.

"Fang was too young to remember me. No one did. No one missed me, just like it should be. The next day, a new baby was added, probably to replace me." Death sighed.

"Today is Fang's fifteenth birthday. The twelve years are up. Fang is coming with me."


	4. Chapter 4

_"Today is Fang's fifteenth birthday. The twelve years are up. Fang is coming with me." _

The words stung. I had no idea that I felt so much for Fang. I mean, jeez, being a freak along with having hormones that don't even matter until they come crashing down all at once was kind of big for me.

_That's what I've been telling you Max. You're in love with Fang. Now, think fast, or else you are going with Fang.  
_  
_Shouldn't I want that?_

No! You need to save the world! You need to be the ultimate Maximum Ride! You don't have time for boys!

I made one of my infamous split decisions.

"Why do you want me too?" I shouted.

Death looked at me strangely. "Fang will tell you."

I turned towards Fang. He looked so different, being dead and all. His eyes were surrounded by a dark shadow, his hair was ratty, and his face had dried blood in it. Fang looked up at me with solemn eyes.

"She read my mind when I was dying. The only thing I wanted was that you could be with me. I'm so sorry." He turned towards Death, "Please, I'll give anything, just don't take Max. She has a destiny to fulfill, and I can't let her die!"

Death shut her eyelids over the sickening hollow sockets. "There is one thing you could do. Maximum's soul is worth so much, you would have to something extreme."

"Anything!"

Death bowed her head. After a few seconds, she lifted it up, the place where beautiful amber eyes should have been, glowing.

Her voice was deep and grim. She spoke slowly, and echo following every sentence. "You are condemned to Hell! You will serve Satin for twelve years, without a complaint or protest! When your time is done, you will be able to come back to earth! Now, be gone!"

Flames danced around Fang, shooting up, burning his soul. I heard him scream with pain. He didn't even get a say in his own destiny. He just went 'poof!'

"FANG! NO!" I shrieked hysterically.

I heard Angel, Gazzy, and Nudge begin crying uncontrollably. Iggy just stared in front of him in horror, being especially scared since he couldn't see what was going on. I would've gladly traded places with him. But, sadly, the scientists didn't have time to give me one more defect.

"AAUGH! NO!" The fire swept over Fang, bring the smell of burning flesh to my nose. I chanced a look at Death. She looked genuinely sad, and I realized she had no choice in the matter.

The fire extinguished just as swiftly as it came. Nothing was left except a pile of ashes in a heart shape. I began crying as I traced my love's name in the remains.

"Oh, Fang, why did you have to do that? I would have gladly gone with you!" My tears turned Fang's ashes a dark gray.

"What's done is done. You must wait the twelve years until you can see Fang again," Death stated, "Goodbye, Maximum. Take good care of your Flock." She slowly faded away from the cave.

So that was that. I had no say in my own family's life, and that was that. Fang was in Hell. Jeez, what next? A second apocalypse in my life, considering that crisis with the whole cacklingevilscientistsandFlyboystryingtokillmefortheirpleasure thing.

I gazed around at the Flock. Angel and Nudge were holding onto each other while tears poured down their faces. The Gasman was staring lifelessly at the ash heart, and Iggy was propped up against the cave wall, silently mourning for his best friend.

"Come on, gang," I said between sniffles, "let's get out of here."

We moved slowly, taking off one by one, leaving nothing but an ash heart, surrounded by tear drops, with '_Fang'_ scrawled in it.


	5. Chapter 5

**I owe everything to ForeverIdebted. She is the most amazing betareader eva!! THANKS!! Thanks for reviewing too. **

**I knew I forgot something- I DON'T OWN. There. Much better.**

Chapter 5

It has been exactly twelve years since I had last seen Fang. Death had told me, all those years ago, that Fang would come  
back. I never believed her, though. It seemed too good to be true. Besides, even if he did come back, would he be a fifteen  
year old boy, or a twenty-seven year old man? The risks were too high to hope, and so I never did. It was too unbearable, anyway…

Now I'm living on my own, in an apartment in Chicago. I have a decent job as a waitress, getting a bit more than minimum wage, just 'cause my boss likes me. _A lot. _He's asked me out more times than I can count on my fingers and toes…and maybe even feathers…

For the rest of the Flock?

Iggy has a nice life. He's going to college in Maine to become a lawyer. Who would of thought? I don't really talk to him all that much. He's too busy with all of his studies and stuff. I am so proud of him.

Nudge is a recording music artist. She changed her name to Krystal, and already has three hit singles, and two CDs out. She talks to me a lot, mainly about how she got to meet all these awesome bands and singers like Fall Out Boy, Nickelback, Buckberry, Good Charlotte, Carrie Underwood, Chris Brown, Kelly Clarkson, and so many more. I get a bit jealous of her, but I am proud of her, too.

The Gasman…well…I don't want to talk about him, much. But I will, for you. He became depressed ever since we truly realized that Fang wasn't coming back. Once, he tried to commit suicide, so I got him help. I haven't talked to him since then, but his psychiatrist told me he was doing much better. I just hope that I will get to see him, again, and that he will be at least a bit more happy.

And Angel? She's in her last year of high school. I'm proud of her the most. She decided to go to a school in Chicago, and she lives in the apartment across the hall from me. Angel said she wants to pursue a career of being a doctor. She already has a job offer. Like I said, I'm proud of her, and I would want nothing less for her. She has come so far from that little baby being able to read minds in the School.

You're probably wondering how we manage to hide our wings, or if we still have wings at all. Well, let me tell you, we do. It hasn't been easy, but we manage to conceal them pretty well, especially Nudge. Nobody has even made a comment about her back looking just a little bulky.

So now I'm sitting on my beat-up old couch, telling you this because I really did believe that Fang was coming back. Every day, I would wake up and look out my window for him. And every night, I would do the same thing. I never saw him. The twelve years have gone by, today is the last possible day for Fang to show up, and I know he won't. It's 11:52, for God's sake! All of my hope has expired over the twelve years, and I don't have enough left for eight more minutes.

There was a knock on the door. I went to answer it, thinking it was Angel, realizing that Fang has never come back.

Instead of a sweet, eighteen-year old teenage girl, a twenty-some guy stood at my door, looking down, with his long, uncombed black hair hanging in front of his face like a curtain. His clothes were ragged and torn, he had dried blood stained on his shirt and ash on his face, the smell of death lingering on him, and I could tell he hadn't showered in a _long _time.

He looked up at me, his attractive amber eyes lingering on mine. "Max," he breathed.

"What do you want?" I asked coolly, staring him down in suspision. I didn't get my hopes up, even though this guy clearly resembled the Fang that I remembered from the time that I last saw his ghost.

"Max... I came back for you, like Death said I would. It was a long, hard, twelve years, but I made it. I'm here."

It was him.

"Fang?" I asked. I don't know why I should have doubted his appearance, before. This was him.

The long, unruly hair, the way his lips were tight and thin, and his eyes. The eyes stood out the most. Death's eyes. Fang had come back to me. To us.

"I love you, Max. I went through hell for you, and I'm not leaving you again." Fang held me in a tight embrace, and I leaned onto his rock-hard chest, never wanting to let go.

"I love you too, Fang." After waiting twelve long years, I leaned in and kissed him in the most fervent kiss I've ever experienced. It was beautiful. It was everything that I have ever wanted. It seemed to last twelve…long…years…


End file.
